With the clock ticking down on 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is putting cash on the table in a bid to accelerate voluntary departures. In a jarring holiday announcement released Monday, DHS revealed it is temporarily tripling its financial incentive, offering a $3,000 stipend to undocumented immigrants who agree to leave the United States by the end of the year.
The initiative, managed through the “CBP Home” mobile app, frames the offer as a limited-time “gift” for the holiday season.
According to the release, individuals in the U.S. illegally who sign up for self-deportation before January 1 will receive the $3,000 payment alongside a free flight back to their home country.
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Beyond the cash and travel arrangements, the agency is offering a clean slate regarding civil fines. Participants who utilize the app will see forgiveness for any penalties usually associated with failing to depart the country.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described the move as a generous offer from American taxpayers, intended to clear cases without the need for enforcement raids.
“Since January 2025, 1.9 million illegal aliens have voluntarily self-deported and tens of thousands have used the CBP Home program,” Noem said in a statement. “During the Christmas Season, the U.S. taxpayer is so generously TRIPLING the incentive to leave voluntarily… offering a $3,000 exit bonus, but just until the end of the year.”
The announcement comes with an ultimatum for those who decline the offer. Secretary Noem warned that the alternative to the voluntary program is not merely staying put, but facing targeted arrest and a permanent ban on reentry.
“Illegal aliens should take advantage of this gift and self-deport because if they don’t, we will find them, we will arrest them, and they will never return,” Noem stated.
DHS is promoting the CBP Home app as a streamlined, “fast, free, and easy” way to process the departure, claiming the agency handles all logistics once the user inputs their information. The $3,000 incentive expires strictly at the end of the year.
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